Unmasked
by harry-ron-hermione-fan-101
Summary: Today was not my day. First, Venom shows up. Then, he manages to unmask me in front of I don't know how many people... and LIVE television. So yeah, excuse me if I'm not skipping around and humming show tunes. The fact that my friends, my family could now be in danger because of my enemies...not even pie is going to fix this. Well...maybe a little bit.


**A/N: ...Ah, what the shell. *Posts it early.* Here is the promised reboot! My writing has improved since the last time I wrote Unmasked, if I do say so myself (hope I don't sound egotistical). Don't expect it to be updated often, though. I'll try my best, 'kay? Please review with CC, but no flames. This takes place after Venom and Spidey's battle in the gym, which means no locker room scene with Flash, and no getting rid of the ooze.**

Using my webs to sling shot myself at Venom, I pointed my feet at his face... only to have him leap out of the way and for my feet to hit the ceiling.

"OW!" I yelped, and Venom laughed. I clung to the ceiling using my hands and knees, and glowered down at Venom. "You did that on purpose! No fair!"

"Let's unmask you for the world!" he snarled, and launched himself at me, kicking me in the chest and sending me clear through a wall.

I hit the fountain in the courtyard and pain exploded across my head. Black spots danced across my vision, and my spidey sense started buzzing. If it weren't the durability that comes with being Spider-Man, I probably would have blacked out by now.

Venom crawled out of the hole I had just made in the gym wall, and advaced towards me, tongue slobbering and waving around wildly.

Two quick shots, and the webs he shot at me secured me to the fountain. I couldn't move an inch. _This sucks._

The black creature reached out a hand and grabbed the mask covering my face. He started to pull it off, and I frantically tried to free my wrists so I'd be able to stop him.

The mask started to slide off of my face. I'm strapped to a fountain, and Venom is unmasking me. Spidey is not happy. Also, the reporters are running over, shrieking and waving mics around. Spidey DOUBLE not happy.

I need an escape... how about pushing the section of the fountain I was strapped to over? It would take the mask off, but keep me out of view of the reporters.

I gather my legs underneath me and kick them forwards, using Venom's vast, muscular chest to propel the ornamental half of the fountain over.

"Not so fast, PETER," Venom chuckles, and grabs my ankles as the fountain is tipping, using me to yank the stone slab down onto it's base. "Your face has yet to see the sunshine."

I do the only thing I can. I bite the mask from the inside, holding on with my mouth. It probably looks really weird, but hey, I'm still unidentified.

"Stop resisting us! We will unmask you!" the creature from space/former bro in front of me howls, and reaches for my mask once again.

This time, with a hard yank, the symbiote/human hybrid thing pulls the mask clear off, ripping the material from between my teeth.

The air hit my face, and the reporters went wild.

"IT IS PARKER!"

"THE BLACK CREEP WAS RIGHT!"

"Peter, Peter, tell us, why did you hide your identity?"

I squeezed my eyes shut. I was so disappointed in myself.

I should have put up more of a fight. I should never have let my guard down enough that while I'm making clever remarks about Flash being my biggest fan, Venom could swoop in and hit me like that.

What was Aunt May going to say? What about Gwen, and MJ? The Conners', Flash, Liz... everyone would have something to say about this. Anywhere I would go, I would get swarmed by people.

There was only one person that I wanted to see right now, but he was dead. There was no changing that.

I shook my head to clear it and came back to reality. Venom was stalking towards me, tongue lashing from side to side, gene cleanser clutched in his hand.

"Maskless and soon to be powerless," he mocked, that horrid tongue licking my face, his huge shark teeth inches from my face.

I shut my eyes and leaned away. "Your breath stinks, _Bro_," I growl, wriggling my wrists frantically to get them free.

Venom snarled, and popped the top off of the vial of gene cleanser, bringing it right up close to my mouth... at the exact moment I wrenched my wrist free of the black webbing pinning it down.

With a quick snap of my wrist, I snatched the vial from his hand.

"Here comes the airplane!" With my other newly released hand, I forced his jaw open and shoved my arm up to my elbow down his throat to pour the ooze in.

Eddie roared and clutched his throat, the ooze dripping off of his arm. Thinking quick, I dashed across the road to where Flash lay, astounded, on the ground.

"Still my biggest fan?" I asked while I snatched his spidey mask off the ground. One great leap and I was back beside Eddie, while he huddled on the ground, clawing at the ooze slipping across the ground.

Before I could gather it up, it slipped down a storm drain. Cursing, I tossed the mask onto the ground.

Eddie crawled past me, clawing at the grate covering the drain. "I need the ooze! We are one!"

I knelt down and put a hand on his shoulder, which he swatted off immediately. "I'm sorry Bro," I mutter.

That was about all the time we had, before the police came over to take Eddie away, and the reporters swarmed around me, shoving their microphones and and waving cameras in my face, asking for a comment.

Every where I turned, I was surrounded by mics, screaming faces and cameras. Raising an arm above my head, I shot a web onto the school, and leaped out of the knot of people going crazy for the latest scoop.

I landed on the wall, and crawled through a recently smashed window, sliding down the wall until I was in a sitting position in the bio lab.

I put my elbows on my knees, and put my head in my hands. Sighing, I shut my eyes, and tried to stay calm, even though panic threatened to overwhelm me.

Everyone would know. Everyone. Including the bad people, from the regular thugs ands crooks, to insane super villains.

None of my friends would be safe. Neither would Aunt May. It was my fault that there was a possibility that they were in danger.

I wiped away the blood trickling down the back of my head, from when I hit the fountain. Better hope I don't have a concussion.

Sighing sadly, I decided it was time to be going home, to face Aunt May and see what she had to say about this.

I stood up and rubbed my shoulder. It was pretty sore. I took a few steps towards the door when I noticed a shadow approaching the room. Great. Reporters. Ducking behind the nearest lab table, I hit my head on the corner.

"Ouch!" I clapped a hand to my mouth. Whoops.

The person in the hallway paused, then came in. "Peter?" That was Gwen's voice.

Slowly, so as not to hit my head again, I peered over the top of the table. "Hey Gwen. What's...what's up?"

Gwen crossed her arms. "I should be asking you that," she said, and smiled sadly. "That... thing was Eddie?"

I nodded. "And an alien symbiote. The one from the Conners' lab."

Gwen sighed. "And... so... he was the monster at the Thanksgiving Parade..." Gwen's head snapped up to look at me. "That means...you saved me." Without warning, Gwen ran across the lab and plowed me over with a hug. "Thank you, so much, Pete," she breathed, and I hugged her back.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," I apologized, and Gwen lay her cheek on my shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Gwen started to laugh. "Peter, what are you apologizing for? You're a hero and-" Gwen broke off, eyes widening. "Oh my gosh Pete... with the Lizard... you saved him, and you were fired. "

I shrugged. "Comes with the mask. Although it's...gone, now," I frowned.

Gwen looked up at me. She pulled out of our hug and took a step back. "I have a lot of questions, and I'm sure your aunt and everyone else does too. Let's get you home, Peter. May will want to make sure you don't have a concussion. You took some major hits out there."

I smiled. "Fine, but I want to avoid the reporters. We'll go home, my way."

Gwen looked at me, puzzled, then a look of realization dawned on her face. "You mean...swinging around on webs?"

I grinned. "Should be used to it by now. I mean, I have saved you... 1200 times?"

My blond best friend/could be crush raised an eyebrow. "Maybe two or three times. No more than four, if you count the Electro incident."

I laughed. "OK, OK. It probably feels like more to me, since I do all the work, and save so many people." Gwen hit my shoulder, and I laughed again, heading towards the window. I held out a hand for Gwen. She took it, and I wrapped her in my left arm to use my right arm for webslinging. "Let's go. Aunt May's making pie. I feel like pie."

Shaking her head and chuckling, Gwen put her arms around my neck and buried her face in my shoulder. "Just don't drop me."

"That's not going to happen," I promise, and jump out the window, heading for home, Gwen in my arms.


End file.
